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The Outcast (episode)
Riker falls in love with Soren, a member of an androgynous race known as J'naii, who dares to consider herself female. Summary When the J'naii lose a small craft in their system they request Federation assistance in locating it. The ''Enterprise'' assists in the investigation and discovers a pocket of null space in the system. Believing the missing ship to be trapped in the pocket, Commander Riker and Soren of the J'naii devise a rescue mission. Working closely with the Federation, and Commander Riker in particular, makes Soren appear to be curious about the differences between male and female. Her race considers it a perversion to identify as either male or female but she has secretly identified as female since she was a child. Giving in to her urges, she falls in love with overtly male Commander Riker. Although they attempt to keep their relationship secret, it is obvious to the other J'naii. Soren is arrested and brought before a tribunal. Commander Riker pleads for her release saying he forced himself on Soren but she denies this. The tribunal is pleased when she admits her perversion, making it easier for her to be cured. Soren is sentenced to receive treatment on the following day. Riker asks the tribunal for permission to permanently take Soren aboard the Enterprise in lieu of the treatment, but this request is denied. The same evening, Riker and Worf lead an unauthorized rescue mission after Picard reminds Riker of the Prime Directive. They are able to get Soren away from her captors but it is too late. She has already undergone psychotectic treatment and has been "cured". Memorable Quotes "Tell me... about males. What is it that makes you different from females?" "Snips and snails and puppy dogs' tails..." "You have a dog's tail?" : - Soren and Riker, discussing the sexes "Commander, tell me about your sexual organs." "Uhhh..." : - Soren and Riker, while in the shuttle "I am female. I was born that way. I have had those feelings, those longings, all of my life. It is not unnatural. I am not sick because I feel this way. I do not need to be helped. I do not need to be cured. What I need, and what all of those who are like me need, is your understanding. And your compassion. We have not injured you in any way. And yet we are scorned and attacked. And all because we are different. What we do is no different from what you do. We talk and laugh. We complain about work. And we wonder about growing old. We talk about our families and we worry about the future. And we cry with each other when things seem hopeless. All of the loving things that you do with each other - that is what we do. And for that we are called misfits, and deviants and criminals. What right do you have to punish us? What right do you have to change us? What makes you think you can dictate how people love each other?" "I congratulate you, Soren. Your decision to admit your perversion makes it much more likely that we can help you." : - Soren and Noor "No more, Commander!" : - Noor, to Riker Background Information * Like , and , "The Outcast" was one of the few episodes of any of the Star Trek series brushed on the subject of homosexuality, albeit in an allegorical manner. Of the episode, producer Rick Berman said in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, "We thought we had made a very positive statement about sexual prejudice in a distinctively Star Trek way, but we still got letters from those who thought it was just our way of 'washing our hands' of the homosexual situation." The "situation" arising continuously through the run of Star Trek: Enterprise and still today, with some alleging homophobia on the part of former Star Trek producers http://www.webpan.com/dsinclair/tng.html. * According to some sources, Jonathan Frakes would later criticize the decision to cast women in the roles of the J'naii, as a love affair apparently shared between two men would have made the statement of the episode stronger http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/homosexuality.htm. * Sexual inequalities were also explored, though secondarily, in "The Outcast", in which Dr. Crusher apparently struggles to recall a time when women were considered to be "weak and inferior". She would assert that those sentiments hadn't been an issue in "a long time", though Worf's statements about a weak hand contributing to a "Woman's Game" of poker might cast some doubt on that...at least from a Klingon perspective. * The aforementioned poker game revealed, for the first time, the specific date of the founding of the United Federation of Planets, with the "Federation Day" game including wild 2s, 6s and aces for the year 2161. * This episode is one of two episodes in which LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge wears a beard. According the TNG Companion, while the actor preferred facial hair, the producers did not, though they apparently changed their minds for and . * Megan Cole later plays Senator Kimara Cretak in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes and . *The "therapy" Soren talked about could be a veiled reference to "reparative therapy". Video and DVD releases *Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 59, . *UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment): Volume 5.6, . *As part of the TNG Season 5 DVD collection. Links and References Guest Stars *Megan Cole as Noor *Melinda Culea as Soren *Callan White as Krite Uncredited Co-Stars *Michael Braveheart as Martinez *Joyce Robinson as Ensign Gates *Laura Granick as a J'naii *Michelle Cordero as a J'naii References 2161; Alaska; androgyny; annular confinement beam; buffer-field generator; cloak; Cochrane (unit); dexalin; electromagnetic energy; exobotany; falla bush; Federation Day; gender; genitals; gravitational field; J'naii; J'naii (planet); ''Magellan''; magnetic field; maneuvering thruster; mating; menellen tree; microfusion thruster; navigational deflector; neutrino emission; null space; Phelan system; plestorene; poker; polarity-source generator; political asylum; Prime Directive; psychotectic therapy; Riker, Kyle; sanctions; sexuality; sexual reproduction; split pea soup; Taris Murn; Ian Troi; Troi, Lwaxana; type-4 phaser; type-6 shuttlecraft; type 15 shuttlepod; warning buoy; "What are Little Boys Made of?" |next= }} Outcast, The de:Verbotene Liebe es:The Outcast nl:The Outcast